Finals of the European qualify for the Tougeki 2011 took place this weekend at the Japan Expo in Paris, they were organized by the Versus Dojo. Here are the results: On Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, the eLive team composed of Belgian Kenpachi (Yun) and French Yamazaki93 (Ryu) will represent Europe at Tougeki 2011. On Sunday, they won against the Drive By French team (Valmaster (Chun-Li) and Adone (Sagat)). While the French-Belgian team KOF of Will2Pac (C. Viper) and CCL (Yun) finished third. On BlazBlue Continuum Shift II, French player Skyll won his ticket to Japan with his Ragna_the_Bloodedge. Ben and Overgames are ranked second and third respectively. Due to technical troubles, Super Street Fighter II X tournament is postponed to a later date in July. The King of Fighters XIII tournament was won by Salim. This one is not Tougeki related but qualifies for EVO 2011 which will be held in Las Vegas from July 29 to 31. This tournament will be organized aside from the official program because the organizers accept console versions only for their tournaments. This will prevent Namco Bandai from installing Tekken Tag Tournament 2 arcade machines at the event. Congratulations to Kenpachi, Yamazaki93 and Skyll! Our hopes go with you to the land of the rising sun! (source: Hit Combo)

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Here's the final line-up of speakers at the DNA conference (for Digital out-of-home interactive entertainment Network Association). The keynote presentation will be given by Randy White of White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group. Gabi Salabi of Triotech Amusement will unveil the next interactive cinema 7Di XD Dark Ride. Benoit Cornet, CEO of Belgian company Alterface will present the new Interactive Dark Ride platform, Charles Voss from Trans-Force will outline the successes achieved by his company in the areas of interactive attractions and edutainment (educational entertainment). Arie Vered of EyeClick will demonstrate the latest interactive screens and will detail the possible uses of MotionAware technology and its future developments. Paul Collimore from Animalive will speak about the motion capture system used to make on-screen characters interact with the audience. Duncan Lawson of Instyle Fitness will discuss developments of ExerGaming (exercise video games) as used in fitness centres such as the Aerobike exercise bikes. Martin Charlton will talk about connectivity offered by Cisco, while Patrick Michael (head of Research & Development division at Sega Amusements Europe) will describe how they successfully adapted the console titles to arcade format (having worked with Codemasters and Sumo Digital). Finally, David Young, COO of BMI Gaming will share his observations on current trends and the future of distributors. These sessions will be moderated by Kevin Williams, a well-known amusement consultant and organizer of the event (with Martine Parry). The DNA conference will be held on July 14 at 1 Victoria Street Conference Centre in London (United Kingdom). It will begin at 10 am and will be followed by an evening reception. The number of participants is limited to 100 people but seats are still available at a price of £499. BMI Gaming offers a 40% discount on booking made before July 10. Use the code "SPEAK40" when registering to qualify.

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The King of Fighters XIII at last comes to Belgium! Released in Japan last Summer, the latest episode in SNK's popular fighting game series ends the Ash Crimson chapter. SNK Playmore had many things to address after the very average KOF XII and the least we can say is that they have worked hard! Here's a game that will reconcile a lot of players with this series. See for yourself! You can play KOF XIII at Player video game shop located in Grivegnée (Liège). They offer the latest version (Ver.1.1 released in October 2010) in a Naomi cabinet, this update removes the roll cancelling and fixes many bugs. Control layout is selectable: buttons in square shape (box) or in line (Neo-Geo style). A fighting game session is organized tonight and King of Fighters XIII will obviously be part of the show! Come and fight!

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Tomorrow begins the 12th impact of Japan Expo, the meeting place for fans of Japan in France. During four days, thousands of visitors will crowd into the alleys of the Parc des Expositions in Paris-Nord Villepinte. No less than 195 exhibitors are present, shows, concerts, exhibitions, screenings, conferences and workshops will be held throughout the four days of the show. Like every year, many famous guests will attend the show. Katsuhiro Harada, producer of Tekken, will present Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on Namco's booth and will participate in signings. This year the festival hosts Tougeki European final organized by Versus Dojo. On Saturday and Sunday, players will compete on Super Street Fighter II X, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition and Blazblue Continuum Shift II. The lucky winners will win a trip to Japan to enter the world final of the Tougeki 2011 to be held in September. Neo Arcadia, Neo Legend and Arcade Street will have a booth on which 16 arcade machines will be in free-play and free tournaments will be held on Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, KOF XIII, Puzzle Bobble, Magical Drop, Windjammers...

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AquaPazza - Aquaplus Dream Match is available today in Japan. This 2D fighting game is developed by Examu and features characters from AquaPlus games and visual novels. AquaPazza is played 1vs1 with a partner, the player chooses the character with which he plays and the one which assists him. Characters are divided into two categories: on one side, the fighters: Hakuowlo and Touka Kuralau (Utaware Rumono), Arawn, Morgan and Riannon (Tears to Tiara), Tamaki, Manaka and Konomi (ToHeart2) and Multi (ToHeart). And on the other side, the partners: Satsuki (Routes), Mizuki (Comic Party), Octavia and Rathty (Tears to Tiara), Ulthury and Camyu (Utaware Rumono), Yuma (ToHeart2), Rina and Yuki (White Album). The game features 5 buttons and there are two playing modes: normal and easy. AquaPazza runs on NESiCAxLive and the IC card provides access to national ranking and data management.

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Shining Force Cross Raid Version A (Sega) is available in Japan today. Main feature of this version is the new "Half Beast" men race: so far only female characters can be created. In response to demand from fans, Sega has added three models for "Half Beast": panda, lion and wolf. New quests, new monsters and new bosses were also added to satisfy advanced players: they will face waves of enemies of all kinds that have many varied attacks. Players can now go hunting for treasures with new events scattered all over the map: they compete to win treasure boxes. A "Treasure" ranking, based on quantity and value of treasures won, was added.

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Terminator Salvation finally arrived in Belgium! Despite the dozen new quality video games released in Europe each year, rare are those who reach Belgium. For nearly 10 years, local operators are not buying any new products, the reasons are vandalism and the "unwanted" public these machines attract. Despite this, it happens that some dare to stand out from the competition to offer variety to its customers (it's rare but it happens). This is the case of the mobile arcade named Jeux Américains which recently acquired a Terminator Salvation deluxe machine. This shooter game adapted from the motion picture of the same name puts you in the shoes of John Connor, leader of the human resistance, during the war against the machines of Skynet. The originality of the game is to press the clip to replenish ammunition which energizes the gameplay (a button on the side of the weapon is used to launch grenades). The cabinet features two M4A1 replicas and those are much needed here because a single shot in the head is not enough to kill a Terminator. If you want to try Terminator Salvation, Jeux Américains is currently located aside the Jambes railway station (Namur) and will stay there until June 15. You'll then find it on the funfairs of Tienen, Namur, Charleroi, Tournai and Liège (see the arcade website for its current location). This is the latest version of the game with the "expert mode" available. They also have Ghost Squad deluxe and timeless classic Sega Rally 2. It would be a shame to not visit this place. Check out our Terminator Salvation review.

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To celebrate its online festival, Cave releases a limited edition of Mushihimesama ver1.5 (original version was released end 2006). Under-titled "Cave Matsuri" (Cave Festival), this edition allows player to choose to begin with maximum fire power (attention because enemies are harder). Futhermore, the soundtrack has been arranged by Riyuu Umemoto (Espgaluda II Black Label/Akai Katana). The game comes in a nicely designed cardboard box and with a B1 poster and costs JPY 180,000 (1,560 €). This sale is limited in time: it starts today and ends tomorrow, and orders can be placed between noon and 20 hours (Japanese time) on Cave online shop.

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Dragon Ball Zenkai Battle Royale was expected since the trailer broadcasting last November. The wait is finally over as Namco Bandai Games title is out today in Japanese arcades. This fighting game is playable up to four players over the network. Players choose from 10 balanced fighters (in normal mode or expert) but each with their own specific, other characters will be added with later updates. Currently available characters are: Son Goku, Krillin, Vegeta, Frieza, Piccolo, Android #16 Android #18, Trunks, Cell and Nappa. The outfits can be customized with items won and saved on BANA Passport (as well as titles won). Characters levels fits player level to make the matches more exciting. Different game modes are available: vs2, 1vs3, ... In a four players battle royale, two players can win the victory and keep playing. During games, players can use sen beans to recover from life and a team can resurrect one of its members under certain conditions but these actions will affect the classification to keep playing. Dragon Ball Zenkai Battle Royale uses five buttons, many special moves are available by making combinations and fighting are both at ground level and in the air. The stages are interactive and can be used to hide by example and develop interesting strategies.

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We already mentioned BlazBlue Continuum Shift II when it was released in Japan in December. If you hear about it again today, it's because this game is officially released in the rest of the world. The information is reported by Arcade Heroes: Taito has announced the global release of the game. Contact your Taito distributor to obtain this title. In Europe, it is Electrocoin in the UK. Speak directly to Taito if there is no distributor in your area. As a reminder, this new version of the popular 2D fighting game by Arc System Works includes new characters (Platinum the Trinity, Makoto Nanaya, Valkenhayn=R=Hellsing and µ -No. 12 -) for a total of 18 fighters. The balance has been completely revised. BlazBlue Continuum Shift II is distributed as "main board with hard disk drive" or as "hard disk drive only" for those who already own a Type X² system. It straightly plugs in all JVS cabinets and supports 4:3 and 16:9 monitors. A good way to recycle old Naomi Universal cabinets for example. BlazBlue Continuum Shift II is a great game for a fraction of the price of Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition.

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